Wishful Thinking
by SashaWritesFiction
Summary: Being a mutant is hard. When a young mutant named Aurora Liu gets disowned by her family, she decides that she should live her life and move to New York. When she meets Raven on the plane, she finds herself in the sights oh Charles Xavier. As she gets caught in the war, she is left with one choice: control her powers or use them to fight?
1. Honorary Disownment

X-Men: First Class 2011 © Marvel Studios

* * *

It wasn't exactly Aurora's fault. Her mutation isn't very easy to control. It was just a little game of "Guess What I'm Thinking" with the man her family wanted her to marry. Aurora got into his head and connected to it. She won the game, obviously, but she ended up saying extremely personal family secrets out loud.  
Once her mother heard what she said, she was fuming. She lashed out on her with the harshest words that could ever be said to her.

"You're a disgrace to this family, Aurora! You will never be a Liu! We will not let you dishonor this family with your horrific mutation any further! You should have never been born!"

With arms angrily waving about, a middle-aged woman stomps towards the front door. The door slams wide open, hitting the wall behind it. Through the door, Aurora gets roughly shoved out of the house with her packed suitcase following close behind her. Loud and high-pitched screeches came from the door she was just thrown out of.

"Get out of here and leave us be! Never dare to show your face here again!"

Just as soon as it was opened, it was shut once more. Aurora's family always tells her that they were going to disown her one day. She never thought that they were serious about it, but here she was. She expected herself to be sad about this, but she wasn't. She was angry.

"I don't need you anyways you horrible bitch!"

Letting out an angered huff, Aurora pushes her shoulders back and corrects her posture. She yanks at the handle on her fallen suitcase and slowly makes her descend towards the road outside of her "family" farm. Thousands of emotions swirled through her. The voices in her head we getting louder and she soon realized that she was connected to her mother's mind.

"Dishonorable child! Why did I have to give life to that?! She better know better know not to come back here. I hope she gets lost and dies!"

Rude and painful thoughts raced through her mother's head. Aurora sent a sharp pain to her mother's head and increased her discomfort slowly. It felt like housands of needles were slowly going through her mother's head. Before she could kill her, she broke the connection and shut out every other voice that was in her head. With every relative she was able to live with, it always has to end like this. "Honorary Disownment" is what she likes to call it. At this point in her long life, she was used to the feeling of rejection. It was good for her. Having people hate her was much better than having them love her. "Love only brings you pain" she thinks to herself.

Soon enough, she makes it to the road. A taxi pulls up to her and she graciously steps in, tossing her bag into the seat next to her. Shutting the door, she loudly says her destination to her driver.

"Hong Kong International Airport. Drive as quick as you're allowed to, please."

The driver began to drive along the bumpy and uneven road that was set carelessly all those years ago. Breathing in deep and quick breaths, Aurora tries her best to calm herself. She knows that if she doesn't, she could possibly lose control over herself again and harm the innocent man who shares the car with her.

The driver looks back and forth from the rear view mirror and Aurora. His eyes show growing concern for the young looking woman who sat anxiously in the back seat. He looks back into the mirror again and notices that her hair has changed color. From a silky raven black it was now a shimmering bright, light blonde. Deciding it was just his mind toying with him, he continues to drive.

The rest of the drive goes on quiet and without any deadly instances. The taxi arrives to the international airport and Aurora thanks the man who once again notices her now black hair. Bewildered, the man only stares before shaking his head and decides to keep it to himself.

Aurora steps out of the small car and drags along her baggage. With the taxi driving away, she stands in front of the large building and takes a deep breath. With a shaking hand, she takes a step forward and towards the entrance.

"Next stop, Westchester, New York…"

[ … ]

Aurora bought herself a plane ticket and is now sitting in her assigned seat. Obviously knowing no one else on this plane, she had no one and nothing to talk about. She now had enough time to reevaluate her choices.

Now that she was thinking it through, she was regretting it. She was 25. (Well, she looked 25.) She knew how to care for herself, but she couldn't help to wonder where was she to go after she arrived. Who was she to stay with? What was she supposed to eat? These thoughts swirled through her head until she was interrupted by a gentle tap on her shoulder.

"Hi, uhm, sorry to bother you, but I think you're in my seat."

The young woman who approached her had blonde hair and striking blue eyes. She's gorgeous, in all honesty. Although she is beautiful, Aurora notices something odd about her. She could feel it, but she couldn't exactly put her finger on it. She snaps back to reality and smiles.

"Sorry, I guess I wasn't looking around properly," Her cheeks flushed into a light pink. She looked at the plane ticket in her hand and rechecked the seat that she was assigned to. "My seat's the one next to this one. Sorry about that." Aurora moved over and sat in the correct seat. She turns her head back to the blonde and looked at her with curiosity.

"It's no problem," The blonde girl sat down after her. "My name's Raven, by the way." Raven held out her hand and kindly gestures for her to shake it.  
"…Aurora. Nice to meet you, Raven. It's nice to know at least one person's name on this plane…"

Raven laughed merrily and crossed her legs.

"This is going to be a pretty long flight, huh? Mind if I ask why you're heading for Westchester?"

"I decided that I needed to move away from my family. That and I got disowned," Aurora chuckled and sadly smiled.

"Oh, I'm sor-"

"No, it's okay I didn't need them anyways."

A well-needed silence rings between the two young women. The plane had just started flying and was now a quarter of the way there. Neither of them talked after Aurora's last remark.

This leaves time for Aurora to gather her thoughts. Ever since she began to speak to Raven, she felt an odd feeling about her. She wasn't human. Was she like her? Why does she seem so different?

Letting her child-like curiosity get the best of her, Aurora entered Raven's mind. She looked through her memories and thoughts for any sign of what is causing her to feel this way about her newly acquired acquaintance. She came upon one specific memory of Raven looking at herself in a mirror. Her appearance was different from what she looked like now. Her smooth, pale skin was now blue and covered in patterns of scales. Her hair was a fiery orange and her eyes yellow. The pieces finally clicked and Aurora blurted out,

"You're a mutant!"

Raven's eyes went wide and she jumped from her seat. Still connected to her mind, Aurora felt Raven's panic.  
"How did you know that?" was one of the first questions she asked.

Aurora grinned like a madman and bounced in her seat. Finally, there was someone out there who was like her.

"I'm a mutant too! I always thought I was all alone in China but here you are! You have such an amazing mutation, Raven! It is so beau-"  
"Are you a mind-reader like my brother?"

"Well…yes. I am. I mean, other than that I'm also able to create a connection to a person's mind and cause them to do my bidding and sometimes hurt, but I've only even done that once so I'm not all that dangerous. Along with the looks part of my mutation, my hair and eyes change color every time I get mad or stressed or depressed. I've also got a regeneration mutation that basically doesn't let me die or even age properly, so I'm basically stuck looking twenty-eight all my life. Also-"

Aurora stopped talking right there. She was talking quickly because of the excitement that was building up inside of her. She took in a deep breath and blushed slightly out of embarrasment for her excesive babling.

Raven's expression changed from a very stoic and serious one to a relieved and rather happy one. She laughed at Aurora's over excitement and just nodded. Aurora had left the connection form Raven's mind already and now she was just smiling at her. She began to laugh at herself too.

Remembering that Aurora was moving to Westchester, Raven's eyes twinkled brightly as she came up with an idea.

"My brother Charles has already graduated from college. He's a genetics major, and I'm almost certain that he might want to study you! Not like experiment, but study! Do you have a place to stay at Westchester yet? Maybe I can get him to let you stay with us!"

"No, I haven't got anywhere to stay. If it's alright with you and your brother then yes! I'd love that!"

She couldn't believe her luck. Just today she was disowned and disgraced, and now she has a chance to re-start and make a new name for herself. She wasn't the only one who was excited for this. Raven was beaming the second she said yes. Raven had always wanted someone who was like a sister to her. After being stuck with only a brother for ages, it was about time she had a person to be girly with.  
She now has a chance to get one too!

"Mutant sisters then?" she asked smiling.

"Mutant sisters."


	2. Oxford Smarts

X-Men: First Class 2011 © Marvel Studios

* * *

The rest of the plane ride has gone smoothly. Raven and Aurora began to get to know each other a little bit better. Aurora was now going to hopefully be able to live with Raven and her brother Charles Xavier. She had just met this person, but what was Aurora to do? She had nowhere else to go other than Raven's home.

The girls were now making their way out of the airport terminal. Staying close to Raven, Aurora followed her to the waiting area. She took a seat with her suitcase standing next to her and looked around. Raven was on the tip of her toes looking around and above the heads of everyone in the airport.

"Sorry for the wait. My brother should be around here somewhere!" Raven said.

Just after she said that, she jumps up and runs toward someone. She's pushing past crowds of people until her arms wrap around a man who does the same to her. Aurora concludes that this is her brother. She connects herself to Raven's mind once again and uses her eyes and ears to listen to their short conversation.

"I have something important to tell you, Charles…" Raven began hesitantly.

"What's wrong Raven?"

His voice was soft and deep. He had an English accent that was completely different from Raven's American one.

"While I was on the plane, I met this girl who needs a place to stay and-"

"Raven, you can't just bring random strangers from other countries home with you!"

"She's a mutant, Charles! A mutant who thinks she's all alone in the world."

Once the word "mutant" was mentioned, Charles' face softens. Aurora tries to get into his head too and eventually makes it in. Unaware of his similar mutation, Aurora looks into his thoughts and searches for any useful information in his head. As she reads all of his feelings and such, a voice in her head appears.

"Is this what you do to all the people you first meet?" the voice chuckles.

She quickly disconnects form his mind and stands up to meet the two siblings face to face. Aurora's cheeks were dusted in a light pink as she smiled at the pair. Raven looked hopeful for a yes from her brother. Charles on the other hand was amused by Aurora's reaction to his voice in her head.

"So I see you're a telepath too," Charles laughs. "Not to mention an immortal gene structure, regeneration, and telepathy? Nice."

"_Well someone's a know it all,"_Aurora thought to herself.

"The pros of being a young genius,"

Aurora's eyes widen and her already pink cheeks turn red. She forgot that he was a mind-reader too. Raven raises an eyebrow and laughs at the two of them. She nudges Charles and nods towards the exit of the airport.

"Enough mind-sassing! You can sass each other after we go home!"

Charles walks towards Aurora and reaches down to pick up her suitcase. He looks up and stares into her eyes and smiles at her.

"I hope you don't mind."

He pulls up the handle and drags the case behind him, along with Raven's duffle bag. He locks arms with Raven and Raven calls out to her. "C'mon Rora! Let's go home!" Aurora blinked at the nickname she was just given and clicked her tongue. She jogged up to where the siblings were and walked next to them. Raven held out her arm and she took it. The trio got into Charles' car and drove to the mansion.

[ … ]

Once they arrived, Aurora was in awe. The size of the mansion was huge compared to the small farm that she grew up in. No one in her large family had a mansion this intriguing. They pulled up to the old European style home's driveway and parked.

Charles was the first to step out. He opened the door for Raven and helped her out. Then he moved to Aurora's door and helped her out. He took her hand and pulled her out of the car and grinned at her. Aurora smiled back and stood up straight.

"I really want to thank you for letting me stay here; I know it might be a bit of an annoyance but-"

"No, don't say that. It's no problem really. It's about time someone sassed me around here! Sooo boring!"

Raven pops out from the side of the car and raises her eyebrows.

"Says the man who does nothing but study all day,"

Charles swats her arm playfully and scoffs.

"I do not study all day! I'm not a hobbit!"

"That's a matter of opinion," Raven says sassily.

She walks away into the mansion with her bag in her hands. Charles watches her walk off and shakes his head. He smiles before looking at Aurora again.

"Sibling relationships: so odd."

Aurora laughs at his remark. Charles smiles as well, admiring her sweet, cheery laugh.

"So I wanted to ask you something," Charles states, still smiling. "I've just finished and presented my thesis on genetics, and I was wondering if maybe I could study you and your mutation?"

Aurora licks her lips and thinks for a minute. She runs a hand through her long black hair, obviously nervous about the study.

"I have to tell you though, I'm not very good when it comes to experimentation on myself,"

Charles eyes go wide and he waves his hands and shakes his head.

"No, no, no! I didn't mean experiment. I would never do that! I was asking if you'd possibly want my help with learning how to control and use your powers to the best of your ability,"

Aurora blushed and nodded.

"Oh…" She looked up at the taller man and blinked a few times. "Can I have some time to think about it? I feel a little doubtful about me being able to actually do this…"

"Of course. Take as much time as you may need. I don't want to pressure you into anything,"

After muttering a quiet thank you, Aurora looked down to the bag that was in Charles' hands. Looking back at him, she suggested that they go inside. Picking her bag up, Charles made his way towards the door with Aurora following closely behind him.

Making it through the heavy wooden doors of the mansion, Aurora was in awe once more. She looked around and tried to process as much of it as she possibly could.

"Woah... This is going to take a while to get used to," she huffs and looks around the entrance room.

Charles admires her amazement for a while. He looked at the way her eyes twinkled when she saw something that intrigued her, the way her lips parted slightly when she was about to smile... Everything about her seemed mesmerizing. Although she was beautiful, Charles knew better than to fall for a woman he just met. After shaking his head and clearing his thoughts, he called her name and she turned around with her hair flowing over her shoulder.

"Would you like for me to show you to your room?"

She nods and moves over so that he may lead the way. Up a flight of stairs and past several rooms in a longs hallway, they make it to Aurora's room. The room was a little bigger than average with a queen sized bed and a decorated bookshelf on the opposite wall of the bed. A window was on the far side of the room with the curtains drawn.

"I hope this is alright. Your stay was on a short notice, so we couldn't make proper accommodations for you."

Charles moved over to the closet and opened the doors. Inside were a few blankets and pillows and hangers for her. He set down the suitcase on the bed and stood in front of her with his hands in his pockets.

"Raven's room is right in front of yours and my room is just down the hall. The bathroom is the third door to the right if you'd like to freshen up, and dinner is in a few hours, so you have time to rest."

Aurora smiled and nodded.

"Thank you for all of this, Charles. I'll go by Raven to thank her too."

"No problem. Dress comfortably. We'll talk more later."

With a smile on his face, he left the room and closed the door behind him, leaving a little crack open. Aurora took a deep breath in and slowed her thinking. Was this all really happening or was this just a dream? She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Someone pinch me…" she muttered, barely in a whisper.

Raven knocked on the door lightly and opened the door a little more. She smiled sweetly at her and proceeded to walk in and sit on the edge of her bed.

"Are you doing okay, Rora? I hope you don't mind me calling you that."

Aurora shook her head and moved over to take a seat next to Raven.

"You never said that your house was this big!"

Raven laughed and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"I may have left out a few details…"

Aurora looked at Raven and smiled. After 15 hours on a plane with her, they were basically very good friends. She huffed and fell back onto the soft and warm comforts of the bed.

"Oh yeah, I came by to see if you needed any spare clothes? Your suitcase seemed fairly small and doesn't seem life you packed enough to end up living here!"

"I wouldn't want to bother you with that. I should be fine for now."

"Nonsense. I'll bring you a few clothes from my closet and then we can go shopping sometime this week!"

Without another word, Raven hopped up from the bed and ran out the door smiling.

Aurora slumped her shoulders and raised an eyebrow. She'd never been this well taken care of. She smiled softly and proceeded to getting up and unpacking her suitcase. Finding a pair of track shorts and a t-shirt, she changed into them and went back to laying in her bed.

As she stared up at the white ceiling, she reflected about all of today's memories. She sorted through her brain and threw out what was not needed and what was important. Soon she found herself fast asleep in the comfort of her new home.

All was well for now, but soon trouble was going to erupt from the shadows of tomorrow.


	3. Dinner Interruptions

X-Men: First Class 2011 © Marvel Studios

* * *

Three hours later, all three of the residents were sitting in the dining room. The room would have been completely silent if it weren't for the scraping of silverware against expensive china. They were only thirty minutes into dinner and the silence made it seem like a lifetime. As they all ate, they each exchange glances between each other. It was Raven's clearing of her throat that engages a conversation between the three of them.

"So, Aurora, mind if I ask how you learned two languages so fluently?"

Aurora glances up from her plate and looks at Raven. She sets her fork down and licks her lips.

"No, I don't mind," she smiles. "As a kid, I got tossed around my relatives' houses a lot. My father was always away with business and my mother didn't have time to care for me because of the farm. The relatives that I got sent off to were fluent in English and often spoke it at home, so they just ended up teaching me. It's useful. That and I was born here in the U.S."

Raven nods and continues to eat her meal. Charles sets down the wine glass he was drinking from and furrows his eyebrows. He opens his mouth to ask a question that he has always been so curious to ask every mutant he will ever meet.

"How did you find out you were a mutant?"

Aurora's body tenses and a chill runs down her spine. Out of nowhere, her body feels cold and clammy. Her palms begin to sweat and she starts to play with the edges of her nails. Aurora promised herself that she wouldn't think about this memory again. It would only cause her to panic and shut down completely. Her mind was going out of control and began to replay that frightful memory.

_All of the elementary school children were gathered around her and a young girl named Mai. _

_"__What's wrong, Liu? Are you going to cry like the big baby you are?" _

_She turns around and tries to get out of the circle, only to get pushed back in by the other children in the crowd. _

_"__Oh, now you're trying to run away from me?" May walks up to her and shoves her. "You're a __**freak**__, Aurora. You're weird and that's why nobody wants to be your friend. That's why you're family doesn't want you! You're always so quiet in class and you never talk to anyone. What are you?! Some kind of monster?" _

_Aurora looks up from the ground to face her bully. She had enough. Enough name calling and enough constant reminders of being different. She stares Mai in the eyes and quickly connects to her mind. Images of memories flash in her head. Aurora searches until she has found the core of her thoughts. Aurora focuses and soon, Mai's eyes widen. _

_Within seconds, Mai falls to the ground on her knees with her hands tightly grasping the sides of her head. Her facial features contort into feelings of pain and discomfort. Slowly, the pain grows more and more. It was similar to having a pole speared through your skull and having it slowly being taken out. _

_Mai cries out in agony. Her tears were falling quickly from her eyes as she begged for it to stop. _

_"__Stop! Please, it hurts too much! Aurora stop it, please! No more! I can't take this! I'm sorry, I won't do this again! Just please, STOP IT!"_

_The young girl's pleas went unheard as Aurora's anger was brought out. She wanted her to hurt. "She deserves it" is what she tells herself. Angry thoughts are pushed through Aurora's mind into May's. Their thoughts were now each other's. Aurora had blocked her way of feeling she was feeling. _

_Mai was now on the gravel covered ground crying and screaming in agony. With words coming out slurred, she continued to beg and please to Aurora. She was curled up into a fetal position and everyone around them was too scared to help. Slowly, her consciousness was fading. Her end was near. _

_If it wasn't for the teacher that came up to them and pushed Aurora away from Mai, Aurora would have killed her. Aurora watched her teacher pick the little girl's limp body up off the ground. Realizing what she had just done, Aurora panicked and ran from the piercing gazes and glares of the other children. When she stopped running, she lost her composure and cried. _

Both Charles and Raven's concerned voices called her out of her frightening nightmare. She blinked a few times and tried to calm herself. She looked up to return their worried gazes and pulled a smile to put their worries at ease. Charles apologized for asking the question, not knowing that she went through that.

Still shocked from the reliving of the event, Aurora weakly mutters, "Did you see any of it?" Charles nods and says no other words, clearly guilt stricken for entering her mind against her will. An uneasy feeling rings throughout the dining room. Everyone continues to eat, in hopes of a short recovery from the ordeal.

Raven reaches over and gently rubs Aurora's hand when she seems to have calmed. She looks over to Charles and nods to signal him to say something. Charles sees the signal and speaks up.

"I presented my thesis on genetics earlier today and got approached by a CIA agent named Moira MacTaggert. She wants our help with the capture of a dangerous mutant named Sebastian Shaw."

He takes a sip from his glass and looks at Auora in the eyes.

"I just wanted to know if you're going to be okay with traveling somewhere again so soon,"

Aurora nodded and agreed to going with them. After all, it was their home that they were bringing her into. They settled with the idea and finished up dinner. Afterwards, they all cleaned up and washed the dishes in the kitchen together. Charles was the first to leave upstairs for bed. He wished both young women a goodnight and walked off.

After small chatter between a cup of tea, Raven and Aurora made their way upstairs to get ready for bed and for the coming day.

Aurora stood outside her bedroom door with her hand hovering over the cold metal of the door knob. She was trying to muster up her courage to go talk to Charles and clear up any unnecessary tension. She jerks her hand away from the knob and rushes over to where Charles said his room was.

Standing before the large door, she holds her hand up in a fist getting ready to knock. Before her knuckles could make it to the hard wood of the door, it swung open to reveal a drowsy looking Charles in a bathrobe.

"Oh. Hello, Aurora. Did you need anything?"

Charles leans against the door frame and waits for her reply.

"I was hoping that maybe we could talk about what happened at dinner earlier."

Charles nods and steps out of the way and gestures towards the desk. Aurora soon realized that she was in his study. She takes a seat on an arm chair and crosses her ankles. Without noticing it, Aurora fiddled with her hands.

Charles shuts the door and walks to the chair that was opposite of her. Aurora took in a deep breath and began to speak.

"It wasn't your fault Charles. You didn't know about that and you didn't know that anything could have triggered it." She says softly.

Charles stays silent for a minute and he seems to be thinking about what to say. Aurora sighs and smiles.

"I'm guessing you're curious as to why I was so upset?"

"A bit, yes." He looks up to face her.

Aurora pulls her legs up to the chair and curls up with her knees to her chest.

"She told me to stop. I could have stopped the minute she wanted me to, but I didn't." she pauses for a moment and licks the inside of her lip. "I showed no mercy. I have no mercy. The moment I kept torturing her, I became the monster that I always fear I may become."

Charles bent over and rested his elbow on his knees, furrowing his eyebrows out of concern.

"I can help you, Aurora. I can help you control your mutation and have that control over when to stop and when not to. Please, just let me."

Aurora narrows her gaze at him and furrows her eyebrows.

"How can you help me Charles? I've grown up being shunned and feared by people I thought loved me. I was raised knowing that I wasn't normal and that I was a disgrace to society. What can you possibly do to make me better?"

"Teach you how to control. Control is all you need to be able to master your mutation. Your mutation is amazing, Aurora. If I could somehow find out more about it, I can bring out the best of you through your ability."

The young girl stays quiet for a moment and processes the information. Averting her gaze from his blue-eyes, she mutters an okay. She wants to learn how to control her power. What person wouldn't want this? If she wasn't the monster she really was, then she would be able to take orders under Charles' watch.

The blue eyed man smiles at her. She stands up and looks down at him and nods slowly.

"You should get some rest, Aurora. We're going to CIA quarters tomorrow."

He too stands up and gently places a hand on her back. She looks up at him and smiles genuinely.

"Thank you, Charles."

"Anything to help you, Aurora,"

She walks out of the door and to her own. Charles watches her walk away from him and silently fist pumps. His first study and now his potential first love.


	4. Moira Mac-What?

**_All characters in this story belong to Marvel Studios. I do not claim to own any of these characters except for Aurora Liu. _**

X-Men: First Class 2011 © Marvel Studios

* * *

After an eventful day, everyone inside the mansion was knocked out and in bed before ten o'clock. Soon enough, the sun was rising once more and Aurora was the first to be awoken due to her body clock not yet being adjusted to the new time zone.

Aurora's eyes fluttered open and she reaches up to rub away the sleep from her eyes. She pulls herself up and leans on her elbows taking a few breaths before she sat all the way up, lotus style. She leans over to her nightstand to check the time.

_5:30 a.m. _

She stifles a yawn and stretches her tired limbs before pulling off her covers and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. She pulls on a silk bath robe to cover up her curvy frame. Trying to find her house slippers, she slides her hovering feet over the cold wood floor. Putting them on and standing up, Aurora walks to her window and pulls the curtains apart. Warm streaks of bright sunlight flood her room and tickle her pale skin. She looks out the window watching the sun rise on the horizon. She smiles softly as she remembers the morning sun rises from her small farm home. Although she misses it, she knows she can never go back.

Dismissing the pained thought, she makes her way to the closet to get dressed for the CIA meeting Charles wanted Raven and her to go to. As she rakes through the hangers of clothes, she notices that some of these clothes did not belong to her.

The first to article of clothing to catch her eye was a cool grey business dress. With it hung a sparkling necklace and a pair of black high-heel ankle boots. Along with the professional outfit was a note that read:

"_Aurora, _

_Excuse me for doing this, but I went through all of your clothes in your closet. I figured that you needed something more formal than what you had packed in your suitcase. I found a few clothes that I thought would look nice on you._

_I hope you like it. _

_Raven x" _

Aurora ran her hands over the fabric. She was guessing the dress and outfit belonged to Raven. Smiling, she pulled off the rack and dashed to the bathroom to change into it.

By the time she finished, it was already ten minutes past six.

Aurora looked in to the mirror and smiled contently at her reflection. Her hair was down and done in loose curls that reached just a few inches below her bust. Her makeup was done naturally as she wasn't one for anything over the top. The dress and shoes fitted her perfectly. With a belt to synch her at the waist, the dress complimented her curves well.

Quickly slipping on her heels, she took one last glance at the mirror and then made her way down the stair and to the kitchen. She assumes that Raven and Charles might not be awake for a little while and decides to make them breakfast.

After fifteen minutes of careful cooking, she was finished and went out to set the table. Setting down the last fork, Aurora nodded her head and proudly looked at her work. She hears light and heavy footsteps running down the stairs and cranes her neck to take a peek around the corner of the doorway.

Raven walks in first and smiles at her, clearly glad that the outfit she chose looked well on her darling friend. She walks up to Aurora to give her a hug and wish her a good morning. Charles freezes for a moment before giving her a crooked smile.

"Aurora, wow, you look…beautiful!"

She thanks him and runs her hands down her dress. Charles stares at her in awe.

With hands on his hips, Charles smiles at her and nods in Raven's direction.

"Well done on styling her, Raven!"

Raven giggles and takes a seat at the table with Charles following behind her. Raven looks around the table and then looks in Aurora's direction.

"Did you really cook all of this?!"

"Yeah…It was the least I could do for everything that you've done for me, so far."

"Well, it looks delicious!" Charles says.

They all eat once more and drink their shares of coffee. By seven, they were all out and driving to the airport to fly to the headquarters to meet with the CIA agent Charles mentioned.

[ … ]

Once they arrived, they were greeted by the CIA agent at the front doors. She was a relatively pretty woman in Aurora's opinion. She was dressed in a suit jacket and pencil skirt. Since she was an agent, it would be obvious that she'd dress in a business like manor.

When she saw them coming, she smiled and patiently waited for them to reach her. She shook all three of their hands and when she got to Aurora, she began to greet her in Chinese. Aurora smiled at her knowledge of a foreign language and replied back to her in the same dialect. She then introduced herself to all of them.

"Good morning! I hope your flights went well. My name's Agent Moira Mactaggert. I'll be leading you all to the conference room where Mr. Charles Xavier will be giving his thesis on genetics to the chief. Might I ask what your names are?"

"I'm Raven, Charles' sister."

"Aurora Liu. Uh, new found guest to the Xavier home."

She nods and gestures to the front doors. They begin to follow her to the room. In her head, Aurora was trying to pronounce the agent's last name. She silently mouths the words as she pronounces them in her mind. Although her English was good, she still had problems pronouncing a few words.

"_Mac-Jagger…? No, that's not right. Mac-Burger? Mac-Tiger? No, not even close_,"

Hearing muffled chuckles, Aurora looked over to Charles to see him smiling and trying not to laugh out loud. Aurora shot him a glare and stuck her tongue out at him. When she continued to look forward, his voice popped into her head.

"_Mac-Burger? Really?_"

"_Don't judge me! It's a weird name,_"

"_Moira Mac-Tag-Gert,_"

"_Moira Mac-what?!_"

Charles chuckled loudly in her head.

"_Mac-Taggert! Mac, like Mackenzie, Tag like the game, and Gert like yogurt!_"

"_Moira Mac-Tag-Gert?_"

Charles nodded and smiled at her. Aurora couldn't help but smile with him. Seeing each other smile, both of their heats fluttered quickly. They stared at each other until they were pulled to a stop.

Soon enough, they were in the conference room. They took their seats and waited for the chief and other agents to walk in. Charles quickly set up the presentation on the projector. As if on cue, the chief and agents walked in. They greeted each other and took their seats as well. Raven and Aurora were seated next to each other and in front of Charles.

Charles began his presentation and Aurora listened carefully. She had left her mind unblocked so that she was able to hear all of the other workers' thoughts. All was well until she heard one of the men groan in their mind.

"_Ooo, mama… She's a pretty one. I wouldn't mind getting some of that tonight,_"

Disgusted, Aurora turned around and shot the man a glare. She switched her eye color from brown to red and then back to normal, just to scare the pervert. She was obviously not the only one to have heard the thought. Charles turned around after he was finished explaining one of the terms and glared at the man as well.

The presentation continued until Charles was finished. He clicks the button to turn to the last slide and the screen then goes black. He thanks the board and takes a seat in his chair. Raven smiles at him to show him that he did a good job.

"Moira, did you really think that this was going to work? You just got yourself a ticket back to the writing desk."

Agent Mactaggert looked defeated and from the analysis of her mind, she really felt like she was. The chief then adjourned the meeting and Mactaggert was the first to stand. Charles told her to take a seat and now the whole room's focus was on him.

"Ah, I wasn't expecting you to really believe anything in my presentation giving that all you were thinking about was what type of pie they are serving in the commons. It's apple pecan, by the way."

Aurora stared at him with all her concentration. She knew what he was about to do. Charles leaned back into his chair and crossed his lengthy legs and glanced at Aurora to assure her that he knew what he was doing.

"I haven't been entirely honest with you, darling," He says to Moira. He focuses on the chief once more and begins to speak again. "You see, I have my own little mutation that allows me to read your mind. No, don't you even dare say that out loud, sir. This is not a magic trick."

He glares at the man who was ogling Aurora while his presentation was on.

"If it were to be, then I would like to know why you'd dare to have such dirty thoughts about my dear Aurora. You're a married man with two lovely children, sir. How dare you?"

Aurora pursed her lips and tried not to smile at what Charles had just said. She turns to the chief and then smiles at him. She decides that Charles needed a little help from her wise mind.

"Also, I would like to know why America is currently placing Jupiter missiles in Turkey…"

The chief's face falls and he is immediately alarmed at her knowledge of the supposed "confidential" information. He raises an accusing finger and points to the three mutants sitting in the room.

"You brought in spies. You brought in goddamn spies, MacTaggert!"

He picks up the phone and begins to dial something in. Suddenly, the whole room goes into panic. Thousands of voices flood the room and millions more flood into Aurora's head. She clutches her forehead and desperately tries to shut out her powers. As Moira tries to explain herself frantically, Aurora feels a quick gust of wind behind her. She looks up to see Raven shape shifted to look exactly like the other agent that sat next to the chief.

The room goes quiet as everyone stares in shock. Raven lays a hand on Aurora's shoulder, signaling for her to show her other mutation. Aurora turns to face them and her hair starts flying around, changing its color from raven black to a bright and fiery orange. Her eyes go red and she feels everyone's gaze on her as well.

Raven shifts back to her original blue scaled state and Aurora changes back as well.

Charles shifts his gaze from the girls to the head of the table.

"How's that for a magic trick?"

A man with dark hair and glasses from the back of the room grins at them and mutters something under his breath. The chief points to Moira and orders for them to get out of the room and get locked up. Aurora flinches at the subtle hint of confinement, but keeps her composure. The man from the back of the room then offers to take them in with him.

Soon enough, the people in the room were dispersed and the three mutants were left with the mysterious man. The man and Charles both got up from their seats and made their way to the door.

"Come on. We can talk more on the way down." He says.

"Introductions and formalities aren't your forte, are they?" Aurora questions as she stands up from her chair. She earns a laugh from the man as she holds her hand out for Raven to take and stand up.

[ … ]

They were walking in the parking garage discussing their specific mutations.

"So Aurora, you have more than one mutation?" asked the man in black.

Aurora smiles at him and nods.

"Other than telepathy and the psionic blast, I have regenerative and immortal structures as well as hair and a mild mutation that allows me to change the color of my eyes."

"Truly amazing, don't you think so? A truly groovy mutation…"

Charles looks down at her and grins widely. Aurora narrows her eyes at him and crosses her arms while continuing to walk.

"Isn't that what you say to all the girls you meet? Always pointing out their '_groovy_' mutations?"

Charles shakes his head and chuckles.

"Raven told you that didn't she?" Raven smiles mischievously as she links arms with Aurora. "Damn, mutation seduction plan failed."

They all laugh as the man in black smiles at them.

"I've always known that there were people like you out there! I've been the laughing stalk of this agency for years! You're going to love my facility!"

"That's going to have to wait." Charles replies.

The man in black questions why and Aurora is quick to answer his question for him.

"Agent MacTaggert has a lead on Mr. Shaw. It's best to try and catch him now or else we might lose him!"

Again, the man in black questions a what this time and now Raven is keen on answering this question.

"Not only can they read minds, they can communicate with them."

"Charles and I just had a lovely conversation about the color and highlights of Raven and I's hair."

Charles chuckles at her and wraps an arm around her should for a quick side hug.

Moira pulled up to them in a black impala looking car. With the windows rolled down, she looked straight ahead and only looked at them from the corner of her eyes. Charles opens the car door for his sister and Aurora. The girls scoot all the way down the seat so that the MIB had enough space to sit. He was hesitant with entering the car until Charles told him to do it with his mind. When everyone was settled in the car, Charles turned to face them.

"Let's go catch us a mutant, shall we?"


	5. Metal Ships

**X-Men: First Class 2011 © Marvel Studios**

* * *

By that evening, Charles and the two CIA agents were on their way to catch that Sebastian Shaw man. Aurora and Raven were told to stay at home by Charles, but Aurora's curious nature did not settle for his command.

The pair argued for an hour before Charles got tired of her clever reasoning. She was one very smart girl, and even if she had a chance to control his decisions, Aurora decided to use her words. If they had continued that argument, Aurora would have won either way. Charles chuckled at his defeat and cocked an eyebrow at her from the rearview mirror.

_"__You win this round, Ms. Liu."_

While Charles was at the front of the U.S. Coast Guard's ship, Aurora and Raven were inside the captain's quarters watching over the current situation. It was part of the agreement she had with Charles.

Shaw's ship was now in sights. The guard sent out a few of their men on smaller speedboats to capture and make the arrest. The boats bobbed up and downs as they skimmed the water.  
They were getting close to the ship. The plan seemed to have been working until riptides came up to the boats and flipped them over.

Suddenly, the whole ship was in panic. Raven's head turned sharply as she let out a loud gasp. Aurora's eyes went wide when she saw these men being flipped over and tossed into the churning, dark sea. She tried to access Charles' mind to see if he could explain what they were to do.

Before she could do so, someone had sent her a psionic blast.

She fell to her knees, clutching onto her head. Thousands of needles were slowly being pushed into her head. This was far stronger than what she could muster. Aurora shrieked and Raven was at her side grabbing onto her shoulders tightly.

"Aurora! What's going on?" She questioned worriedly.

Aurora balled her fists as she concentrated on getting her powers to work. Slowly, the pain was dissolving away and she regained her stature. She shakily got onto her feet and clutched onto Raven's arm for support.

"They have someone like me." She swallowed before she bounced on her toes and nearly sprinted towards the door. "We need to find Charles, _now_."

The two young women raced down the stairs of the loft, frantically searching for him. Halfway down the flight of stairs, Aurora cringed in pain once more. This other mutant knew what she was about to do and she wasn't about to let her get away with it. Aurora quickly shut her out once more and built a small barrier between the two of them.

"AT LEAST LET ME MAKE IT DOWN A FLIGHT OF STAIRS, DAMMIT!"

Raven looked at her questioningly before they were sprinting down the stairs again. Finally, they found Charles and Moira running around as well. The two girls called out to him and quickly got his attention. Aurora felt her barrier being slowly taken down. This other telepath was much stronger than she was.

"Aurora! Raven! Are you two alright? Do you feel her too?" Charles asked quickly.

"Yes, I do." Aurora was panting now. "We need to act fast. This other mutant isn't going to let us get her or Sebastian Shaw so easily. There's more than one of them on that ship and they're getting away quickly. "

Everyone was talking quickly and rushing to get outside to the edges of the ship. When they made it out, Charles held out a hand to stop them. His eyes go wide as he starts to run out to the very edge.

Everyone's hearts were racing. The adrenaline was pumping through their veins faster than their bodies could comprehend.

Charles' hand flies to his temple as he quickly concentrates.

"There's another person!" He turns around and searches the small crowd for Aurora.  
"Aurora! I need you to get into his head! Can you do that for me?"

Aurora frantically nods as she tries to find this guy's mind. Charles is looking over the edge as he spots a man being pulled by the submarine that Shaw was in. He panics for a second before he clutched the cold metal railing of the ship.

"LET GO!" he yells at the man being dragged. "There's someone in the water and we need to get him out quick." He turns to Moira and the MIB before yelling at the man to let go once again.

Aurora comes into his mind shouting.

_"__I've got him, Charles! He's not going to let go! I've tried getting him to do so, but he won't budge! You need to get him out of there before he gets himself killed!" _

Aurora is on the frontlines of the ship, angrily glaring at the man gliding through the water.

Charles makes a mad dash to run to where she is. Her breaths are coming out shorter and shorter as she fights to keep him connected to her head. Charles reaches her and taps her shoulder before jumping head first into the water.

Aurora gets connected to his mind and uses his eyes to see what he sees.

_"__His name is Erik! His air supply is down to only 40%. Make him stop, Charles!" _

Charles plummets to the water and he is soon on Erik's back, clutching onto him. He gets into his head and quickly begins to talk to him.

Aurora gasps as she nearly has a heart attack. She'll tell him off for this later.

Aurora is entirely focused on the two men that are underwater. Charles is telling Erik to calm his mind, but he is as hard-headed as before. Her hands ball into fists out of frustration and she grunts out loudly.

Charles' voice is in her head once more, now needier than it was before.

_"__He's not listening to me, Aurora! Talk to him! I can't get him to let it go!" _

Aurora growls as she enters Erik's mind.

Calming herself quickly, she enters his head with a soft tone of voice. Her frustration was evident, but her sweet voice was more prominent.

_"__Erik, please listen to me. You need to let go. You are going to drown if you don't. I know that you need to do this but please! You're going to kill yourself. LET. GO." _

As she reasons with him, she sees a vision of a frail woman in striped clothing. She feels Erik calm down and hears him silently mutter something in his mind before she loses him.

_"__Mama…?" _

Moments later, Charles burst through the water with Erik in his arms. As soon as she lost the connection to both of their minds, she falls to the floor of the ship. Panting, she leans on her hands, exhausted from the amount of mind-power that she exerted.

Raven was running towards her with the rest of the crew behind her. She bent down next to her and held her shoulders. Aurora looks up from the ground and glances in the direction of the two arguing men.

"Get them onto the ship, quickly." She says to the rest of the crew.

The rest of the crew hurriedly ran around, looking for ways to get them out of the water.

Aurora gets up and puts a hand on Raven's shoulder, still a little dizzy. She tries to control her erratic breathing and lays her hand on her stomach. Aurora's eyebrows knit together as she angrily huffs. She bites her lip and glares at them. Standing up straight, she looks at them once more.

"I'm going to kill them when they get back onto this ship."

[ … ]

Charles and Erik were hoisted onto the ship and immediately got blankets wrapped around them. Charles looks over to where Raven and Aurora stood and smiles at them. Raven and Aurora both glare and walk toward him.

Raven got to him first and gave him a piece of her mind. She angrily yelled at him before hugging him tightly. After he let go of her, he looks towards Aurora who stood there with her arms crossed.

"Not you too, Rora…" he smiles at her one last time before Aurora stomps over to him and smacks him across the face.

"Charles Xavier, do you know how psychotic you are for jumping off the side of a ship?! Do you have any idea as to how much you worried both me and Raven?! You could've drowned out there! The current and riptides extremely strong too! You could've died you pompous little-"

Aurora stopped her sentence right there. She huffed before she pulled Charles into a tight hug. She clung onto him like she lost him forever. Charles' wet arms wrapped around her. He pulled her closer to his chest as he laughed at her distress.

"That was not what I meant when I said do something!"

She squeezed him one last time before letting go of him. She moves in front of Erik and shakes her head and crinkles her nose up at him.  
"Why would you do something like that? Do you know how badly you could have been injured?!"

Erik looks down at her short stature and swallows hard. His eyes soften at her and his shoulders seem to shrug. He narrows his gaze at her and bites his lip. This little woman going by the name Aurora seems to remind him of his deceased mother. She spoke just as soft as she would. The way she acted seem almost identical to her too. The amount of compassion and caring that was always present in her voice was surprising to him.  
He stood there looking at her in awe.

She understood what he was thinking and exactly how he was feeling. She had saw how his mother was killed by the Sebastian Shaw man and how badly he wanted revenge on him for his mother's death. Aurora tilts her head to the side and looks at him with a soft expression.

"How old were you?" she asks quietly.  
"Too young." He replies.

The group quiets as the moment turns solemn. Erik pipes up after a minute or two and looks at the three. He pulls off the towel around him and nervously bites his lip.  
"So you all are like me? You're different too?"

Raven nods at him and changes to her normal blue form. Aurora switches her hair and eye colors to several different shades of blue.  
"I can't do anything physical…I don't look all that radical." Charles says with an awkward smile.

Aurora smiles at him. As she turns to look at Raven, she notices that she seems to be looking at him with fascination. Erik looked at her with the same intrigued expression.  
"So I'm guessing you're a shape shifter?" Erik asks.  
"Yes, and you control metal."

He huffs at her reply and looks up to Charles and Aurora.  
"What are you two going to do with me then?"

The threesome looks at each other and cock eyebrows. Charles puts his hands on his hips and smiles.  
"What would you say if I offered you a shot at learning ways to better control your powers?"


	6. Promises are Bonds

**X-Men: First Class **© **2****011 Marvel Studios**

* * *

The next day, the MIB and Agent Mactaggert took them to the Covert CIA Research Base that he spoke of. He had mentioned that there was a person that he wanted them to meet. From what he told them, this person was amazing.

When they stepped out of Moira's car, Charles was following closely behind the MIB. Raven and Aurora were behind him. Erik was walking next to her looking like he didn't want to be here.

"Welcome to my facility." The MIB says. "My mission has been to research the application of paranormal powers in the military defense,"  
"Or offense…"

The MIB seemed extremely proud of the facility that he ran and Erik seemed to love tearing down his pride. Aurora shook her head at him and mentally scorned him, something he obviously heard.

"_No one is going to make you stay, darling_."  
"_Don't call me darling. You may seem like my mother, but you are not really her_."  
"_Do you prefer 'Angry Metal Controlling Boy' then_?"

Aurora laughed at herself and looked up to stare at Erik with a raised eyebrow. Erik seemed to be angry at her for talking to him. He glanced at her with the deadliest of glares. He looked forward again, but Aurora kept her gaze fixated at him.

"_Angry Metal Controlling Boy it is then…"_

Erik shook his head trying to look like he was being annoyed by her trying to talk to him.  
"_You're stupid,"_ He said in his head. "_A pretzel could make better jokes than you can."_  
"_You talk to pretzels in your free time?"_

He groaned out loud getting a little more annoyed with every reply that came through his head. He did appreciate her persistence though. No one ever talks to him for this long. Aurora ends the connection with his mind sighs at her failed attempts of befriending the man.

They continue to walk towards the facility, following the man in black.

The outside of the facility itself looked like nothing more than a pristine white building. Nothing about the outside appearance made it look like much of a secret, let alone a place where genius government scientists worked.

When the doors of the facility opened, a gust of cold air blew in their faces. Aurora gaped at the sights of all the moving workers dashing around the place. Everyone in the government facility was dressed in shining white lab coats with shining plastic name tags hanging off the edge of their pockets.

In the midst of the seemingly mile-long walk, Charles' voice popped into Aurora's head again.

"_You're cute when you try to become friends with Mister Erik Lensherr_."_  
"He's just upset… The man did get his mother killed by Shaw,_"  
"_Compassion and sympathy, two of my favorite qualities in a woman._"  
"_You're flirting with me aren't you, Charles Xavier?_"

Charles glanced at her and smirked. He shrugged before he turned back around.

"_Maybe I am?_"

Aurora scoffs and crosses her arms._  
_They all continued to walk until they stopped in a laboratory that was said to belong to the genius mystery man.

In front of them stood a large-scale model of a ship that the CIA was supposedly making. The very size and extremity of it nearly made Aurora faint. This was something that didn't feel real for her. With all honesty, nothing seemed real to her anymore.

Aurora's amazement seemed to be fairly evident since a young man in a lab coat appeared behind her.

"It's supersonic you know." The man in the lab coat says to her. "You should, uh, see it in real life. It's truly incredible."

She jumps from the sudden voice and ends up bumping into Charles' shoulder. The MIB raised a hand and grasped the scientist's shoulder. He grins widely and begins to introduce him.

"Hank, these are the special people that I was telling you about," He gestures towards them, the mutants. "Hank McCoy, the most promising young scientist that works in this facility."

Aurora looked him in the eye for a quick second. With that quick glance, she was able to look through his mind and know almost everything about him. The most important thing to know about him was the fact that his mutation was a secret that wasn't meant to be told just yet.

Before she could stop him, Charles was already holding out his hand and introducing himself to Hank. She cursed under her breath as she tried to think of a way to tell him to stop.

"Charles Xavier, pleasure to meet you. How wonderful…another mutant in the base already," He turns to the man in black with a hand on his hip and a smug grin on his face. "Why didn't you say so?"

Aurora looked at him with a straight face and said, "It was supposed to be a secret, Charles…"

His face immediately fell, guilt and regret quickly tracing his features. He turns back to Hank and begins to apologize genuinely. The MIB walked up to Hank and began to question him about it.

"You never asked, so I never told…" Hank replied.

Aurora felt the secondhand embarrassment and crossed her arms and tries to hide behind Raven. Erik only scoffed.

"So what exactly is your mutation? You're super smart?" Raven said as she strolled up to where he stood. Aurora saw the little spark in her eyes that indicated that she seemed to like this boy.

"He graduated from college at age fifteen." The MIB said pompously.

"I wish that's all it was…" Hank said.

Aurora quietly walks up behind Charles and Raven and looks at him sympathetically. She understood what it was like to have to keep her mutation a secret from everyone that you knew.  
"It's alright, Hank. You're with friends. You can tell us." She gently says.

Hank slowly pulled off his shoes and socks and revealed his ape-like feet. He wiggled his toes (or fingers?) and showed them off to everyone.

"…Reminds of my aunt Lin. Although, your feet look way better than hers."

Hank laughs at her joke as he walks towards the ship model. With a loud THUMP, he jumps up and hangs from the edge like a bat. "Ta-da!" he says waving his arms around.  
Everyone begins to chuckle at him but out of sheer amazement, not teasingly.

Raven struts towards him and looks at him flirtatiously.

"Raven seems to like this guy, no?" Aurora says to Charles  
"As long as she's happy I won't hurt anyone."

She snickers quietly before she clutches onto his arm, hugging him. He chuckles and wraps an arm around her, clutching onto her tightly.

"So I'm guessing that's a yes to my flirtatious advances?"

[ … ]

Later that day, everyone went their separate ways around the facility. Raven was out with Hank having a "conversation" and Aurora was out with Charles having a coffee and chatting about the magic of genetic mutations.

"I've never understood how you're able to put up with me." Aurora said at one point.  
"What do you mean?" Charles responded.

"I mean, I'm legitimately bothersome and I'm not a very appealing sight to bear witness to. Have you seen the way I look all the time?"

Charles looked shocked at her opinions on the way she looked at herself. He knew that her appearances were far from unpleasant. Raven had gone through this too and he has always tried his best to let her know that she was perfect the way she was. This time was no different.

"Aurora, I've only known you for a little while, but I know well enough to promise you that you're absolutely gorgeous!"  
He reached over the table that they were sitting at and held her hand tightly.  
"You have a sense of humor that's much better than mine is and you are polite and kindhearted! You are fabulous in everything you wear. What else could you possibly ask for when it comes to your perfect….mate?"

Aurora's cheeks flushed as she beamed at him. She stared down at their hand sand squeezed his. She laughed softly and looked him in the eyes.

"…I think I'm slowly falling in love with you, Charles Xavier,"  
"Then I'll be sure to catch you when you do."

They both laugh and hear the discreet murmurs of other people in the room.

"How sweet…young love,"  
"Remember when we were like that?"  
"Just like in the books, no?"

Aurora smiles even wider as she notices a light pink blush creep up the apples of Charles' cheeks.

"You're so cliché, Charles,"  
"Hey, I like to make it seem like we're part of a mutant love story!"

[ … ]

The sun had already set and everyone was back at the base. Charles was swept away by one of the CIA agents and left her with a kiss on the cheek. When Aurora got back, she was met with a semi-agitated Raven who was in dire need of some girl talk. She told him about what happened with Hank and Aurora made note of it.

It was fairly late now, and everyone was either in bed or at home. Aurora still hasn't recuperated from her jetlag. She was outside of the facility taking a stroll in her attire from earlier in the day. She was keeping to herself and walking up and down the pathway that leads to the entrance door. She hears the door open and heavy footsteps thudding down the stone earth.

"Erik? I didn't think that you'd leave so soon..."

Erik abruptly turns around and faces her questioning expression. He suddenly thinks of his mother when he sees the look on her face. He takes a deep breath before answering her with an agitated expression.

"None of you get it, do you? I'm the bad guy here. None of you should be associating with me,"  
"Who said you're the bad guy, Erik?"

Erik thinks about this for a moment before looking down at what he held in his hand. He remembers the real reason he was here: extract Shaw's files and leave. He tentatively turns around again and continues to walk away from her, hoping to never turn back.

"You can still change, Erik," Aurora calls out to him. "I understand the reason why you think that you have to do this, but you can't possibly take him out on your own. I'm so sorry about your mother, but you will get your vengeance, just not like this."

Aurora stood there watching him walk away from her. She was about to begrudgingly let him go, but he suddenly stopped again. She went into his head one more time and read his thoughts. He was contemplating what he was supposed to do in this moment.

Erik obviously understood that he had a mission to fulfill. If he were to stay here then he would meet people that would only be weaknesses for him. He did not need anyone in this world anyways.

Aurora talked to him in his head, letting him know that they can help him.  
"_You're not alone in this world, Erik. You never were. You have a mutation that can easily kill a person. Your control over them is only as strong as your understanding of it_."

"Would it kill you to stop butting into my thoughts all the time, Aurora?!"  
"I'm sorry, Erik. I won't do it again, but I need you to understand that this Shaw or Schmidt man isn't alone either. He has friends and you are in dire need of some…"

He stood there for a minute longer, taking in everything that she was saying to him. After all these years of standing alone and working with no one, he had a chance to possibly form relationships with other people that were like him. He had so many walls put up around him, but now they were slowly being torn down by a young woman in high-heels.

He turned around and peeked at her leaning against the door frame, watching him off. He licked his teeth and clasped his briefcase tighter.

"Did your boyfriend Charles man put you up to this?" he asked her.  
"He's not my boyfriend, Erik!" she growled at him. She crossed her arms. "I just had a feeling that you needed a little push."

He continued to look at her before she breathed and got off the door. Aurora grasped for the door handle, giving up on her attempts on getting him on their side.

Finally making his reluctant decision, he unhurriedly walked toward her. He said no words as she smiled at him, glad that her assumptions on his kind nature were true. He wasn't ready to let anyone come in yet and Aurora knew of it.

"This doesn't mean anything yet, Aurora."

She shrugged and shut the door behind them. She followed closely behind Erik and shut down her connection to his mind.

"Just to let you know, I don't break my promises, Erik."


	7. Connections

X-Men: First Class 2011 © Marvel Studios

_Special thanks and dedication to avid reviewer: **HelloILikeIt**  
Thank you for your continuous support._

* * *

The next morning, the mutants were gathered together for breakfast. Today they were given a break from any further work with the CIA due to the fact that they needed their own time to process the information given to them. Even Hank was given a day off from his own research.

Raven and Aurora sat in front of each other, conversing about their interests in men and how to properly wing out your eyeliner. Aurora sat with her legs crossed under the table, contently munching on her French toast. Charles walked in with a folder in hand and Erik following his trail.

"Good morning, lovely ladies. How are you two getting along?" He says with a cheery grin.  
He walks towards Raven and gives her a hug and then moves over to Aurora to kiss her cheek. She looks up at him and smiles sheepishly.

"I'm guessing that chat over coffee went well yesterday?" Raven says playfully.

"I told you he was your boyfriend," Erik muttered walking towards the end of the table with a coffee mug in hand. He sat down and took a sip, looking at Aurora with a raised eyebrow.  
"I hope you two aren't too kinky."

Aurora shoots him a playful glare and continues to gnaw on her toast. Hank walks in and waves shyly and takes a seat at the table as well. He mutters a good morning and hides behind the cup that he held in his hands.

"Still not comfortable with the whole 'living with other mutants' thing, Hank?" Charles states.  
"Sorry, I'm not much of a socialite,"

Raven and Aurora both say something at the same time:  
"Neither is Charles"  
"Neither is Erik"

The two men look at them with 'what the hell are you talking about' expressions. The girls laugh and even Hank chuckled along with them.

"You barely met me a few days ago!" argued Erik.  
"I'm a telepath. Any and every social interaction that you can recall is something that I can see,"

"I have plenty of friends!" Charles argued as well.  
"Four doesn't count as plenty, Charles."

The men look at them feeling defeated by their reasoning. Erik leans into his chair and clutches onto his mug, smirking ever so slightly. Charles huffs and puts his hands on his hips.

"You two are so much alike." He mutters under his breath.

They all ate their breakfast together with no mishaps or deaths involved. They enjoyed each other's company, happy to learn more about each other. Hank became more comfortable with being himself around them and slowly let loose.

Remembering the promise her brother had made, Raven brought up the subject of training their control over their mutations. Charles happily complied and so did everyone else in the room.

Raven was paired up with Hank while Charles handled Aurora and Erik. The trio strolled around the facility for a minute before they found a room that they were able to use. They walked into the office meeting room.

Aurora sat in a chair that was against the wall and Erik stood, leaning on a desk that was at the front of the room. After shutting the door, Charles turned to face them and smiled.

"I'm glad that you are both allowing me to help you," He starts.

"Aurora, you're a telepath just like me, but you have difficulty focusing your psionic blast when you become agitated.

Erik, you have difficulty with using your powers without being angered or under extreme amounts of stress. Those are both two things that can be easily fixed just so long as you learn to control yourselves."

Both of the mutants look hesitant about what Charles is saying. Both doubt that they can do this, even with the help of Charles. Erik looks at Aurora and she blinks at him, not saying a word out loud or in his head. Aurora is the first to pipe up about her doubt.

"How are you going to get me to practice the blast without hurting anyone?"  
"You can practice on me."

Her eyes go wide as her heart nearly stops. She always had a bad feeling whenever the subject of her using her blast was brought up.  
"I can't possibly do that! I do _not_ want to hurt anymore people!"  
"You won't hurt anyone, Aurora. Don't worry. What you did to Mai won't happen again!"

Her body goes rigid as it did back at the Xavier home. She feels her chest grow heavy as it gets harder for her to breathe. Her hands and feet go clammy as her heart pounds against her chest quickly. Her hair changes its color to a dark blue and her eyes flash a bright red.

"Are you alright, Aurora?" Erik asks, utterly confused by the sudden way she's acting.  
"Christ, I'm so sorry, Aurora!" Charles quickly realizes what he has triggered and he quickly rushes to her side.

"Is it alright if I touch you?" He asks hurriedly. She nods quickly as she feels her throat run dry. Charles kneels in front of her and grasps her shoulders tightly. He looks into her panicked eyes, trying to get into her head.

"Erik, I need you to go get me a blanket from her room. If you can't get in, just ask Raven!" Charles says to him. Erik quickly complies and rushes out the door.

"Charles, I-I can't b-breathe," Aurora stammers.  
"Aurora, listen to me. I need you to break down the walls that you put up. I can't get into your mind if your walls are up! Breathe, calm your mind."

Charles was doing everything he could to somehow stop the anxiety attack that she was currently having. Aurora felt everything around her slowly dissolve as the attack got the best of her.

"I need you to take down the walls. I can't get in if they're still up." Charles softly screams.

Aurora takes in a shaky breath and shuts her eyes trying her best to take them down. She feels a smooth something slide through her head and she knows that Charles made it in.

With her eyes still shut tightly, she sees a vision of her happily smiling with her family when she was much younger. Her breathing begins to subdue as her body stops quivering.

Slowly, she recovers from her panic attack. She opens her eyes to meet the terrified gaze of Charles' blue eyes. He laughs nervously as he feels her calm.

She breathes a few times before collapsing into his chest. His arms wrap around her protectively as he mutters millions of apologies over and over again. She clings onto him and clutches his shirt, clearly still shaken.

"I'm so, so, so sorry, Aurora! I should have never brought- I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry,"

Raven comes bursting through the door with a soft blanket in her hands. Everyone who stood outside that door looked even more panicked than Aurora was. Raven ran to her and wrapped her arms around her too.

Aurora shook everyone off of her as she excused herself to go to her room and rest for a little while.

[ Charles ]

Charles stands up to move out of her way as he sees Raven guide Aurora to her room. Seeing them off, he slumps into the chair where she sat and pinched the bridge of his nose. He heaved a heavy sigh.

"What were the exact words that you said to her before her attack?" Hank asked coyly, walking into the room.

"I mentioned a girl named Mai who she had a bit of a rough past with…" He said, not looking up. He sinks into the chair even further as the shame and guilt begin to take over his pride.

"There are things that trigger those reactions, you know. She's just sensitive to those events. Just don't bring it up when you talk to her."

Erik walks in and takes a seat on the desk he was leaning on before. He looks directly at Charles trying to read his expression. Charles felt like pudding that was being mushed in a plastic cup. He felt horrible, especially since he had feelings for her. He silently hoped that this wouldn't change the relationship that they had.

Out of nowhere, Erik chuckled.  
"What's so funny about this, Erik?" Charles muttered miserably.  
"Nothing except for the way you're acting now."

Charles looked at him, clearly confused at what he was saying.

"It's pathetic really. For a pair of telepaths, you two can't even figure out that you're both madly in love with each other. In fact, you're so in love that even your obvious flaws don't faze either of you; it's disgusting."

Hank meekly nodded and agreed with Erik, for the first time ever. Charles looks at them, shocked that his interest in her was this obvious. He opened his mouth to say something, but was left with nothing.

"I'm going to go check on the girls. I'll tell you guys what happens." Hank says gesturing towards the door. Erik asks how he was going to do that, and Hank merely tapped his temple.

After he walked out the door, Erik and Charles sat there looking at each other. Erik picked up a metal paperweight and a shaped metal flower that stood on the desk where he sat. He made them float towards Charles and held them in place a few feet in front of him.

"The flower is Aurora and the paperweight is you." He starts.  
"The flower is delicate and should be handled with care right? Well, that's how Aurora seems to be. You're a paperweight. You keep things in place and keep them in place using your weight."

Erik moves the paperweight so that it hovers over the flower.  
"What happens if you drop a heavy paperweight on a delicate flower?"

He drops both things and the flower is quickly broken into many pieces, the paperweight slightly chipped.

"The flower breaks and the paperweight is left chipped; a little hurt, but not as broken as the flower." He catches Charles' gaze and looks him straight in the eyes.

"It's a metaphor Charles. All I'm saying is that if you put too much weight on her shoulders, you're going to break her and she'll still love you in a really messed up way."

Charles looks up at him, shocked. He never thought of himself like this. After what he's caused today, is it true that he might really break his delicate flower? He bites his lip, thinking exactly what he is doing to her.

"…What do you really mean by this, Erik?"  
"As mutants, we're all connected as a family; brothers and sisters of all races and cultural backgrounds. We should never break another mutant and still consider them the love of your life."

Erik stands up and opens the door to leave. He stops in his tracks to turn look over his shoulder.  
"Don't rough her out all too much, Charles."

Then he turns back around and leaves.

Charles is left speechless. He felt the need to make this right now. He stood up, put his fingers to his temple, and found Hank's mind.

_"__Hank? It's Charles. Is Aurora alright?"_

_"__She's alright. She just needed a quick break from the outside."_

_"__Did she say anything about wanting to be left alone?"_

_"__No, she just said that if anyone needed her, to just knock." _

He left his head and jogged out the door. He was racing to her room to clear the thoughts in his head. He had to make this right once more.

* * *

_**A/N:**_ I apologize for the large delay in the updating of this story! Just been busy with packing for a trip that I have coming up.  
This will also give me a chance to say that this story will be put on a brief hiatus for the month on JULY 22, 2014.  
I'll be updating until then, though! Thank you so much for reading and supporting this story.

Please review, favorite, or follow this or me if you'd like to!


	8. Apologize

Constantly, Charles doubted his ability to really love a woman. Sure, he had a few one night stands but nothing more than that. Of course, any man has his own reasons as to why he doubts his abilities . . . just not at a horrible time like this.

But here he was, standing outside the door of a girl he thinks he loves. He brings his fist up to knock on the door only to bring it back down, not knowing what to say or do. He runs a hand through his hair and taps his foot, trying to think of something to say.

He cared very much for Aurora, even if he had only met her a few days ago. (Being a telepath meant that he could easily know everything about her, so bonds are easily made quickly.) He quickly fell in madly love with everything about her, just as Erik said. Just where he started, he was back again.

Was him falling for her possibly toxic?

Out of the blue, Aurora's melodic voice popped out wearily from inside the room.  
"For a telepath, you think very loudly. It makes it difficult to sleep, you know."

His cheeks flush, but he feels glad that she couldn't see him now. He stutters a reply to her, asking her if he could come in. She complies with his request and moves to open the door for him. Charles grins at her, seeing the corners of her lips quirking up slightly. Her eyes twinkled playfully as she ushered him in.

"Why is it that whenever we need to converse, we always end up in a bedroom?" Aurora muttered.

He chuckles at her before his smile fades. She notices his suddenly go serious and takes it as a hint to take a seat on the edge of her bed.

"What's going on, Charles?" She questions.

He looks at her confused face, taking in a deep breath to make time to find the right words.

"Are you feeling alright after the, erm, incident?"  
_"Stupid way to put it, Charles!_" said a voice in his head.

"Oh, I'm alright, Charles. I just needed to rest a little afterwards,"  
"That's wonderful. I was worried since it was my fault. . ."  
"It wasn't your fault. Like before, you didn't know,"

That was one thing he didn't want to hear. He wanted to hear that she blamed him for everything. He wanted to know that she blames him and never wants to see him ever again.

The same voice, which sounded much like Erik's, continued to doubt him. He couldn't be the paperweight that destroys the fragile flower. He couldn't bear the thought of being the reason she broke.

He didn't realize it, but he was silent for an oddly long time. Aurora's soft voice punctured his rough thoughts. She called out to him and softly laid a hand on his knee. He snapped out of it and looked at her.

"Charles, seriously, what's going on?"  
"I'm a paperweight, Aurora."  
"You're a what now?"  
"I'm a paperweight and all I'm going to do is break the delicate flower that you are,"

He shakes his head slowly as he moves away from her. She takes away the hand that was on his knee. Charles doesn't dare look at her for fear that he might burst. A tense silence flows freely between them now. Aurora stares at Charles, slightly hoping that he'd explain himself.

". . . No one ever said that the paperweight was supposed to break the flower,"

Charles still looked away angrily, not exactly sure as to why. Again, Aurora cautiously inched closer to him, giving him time to make her stop.

"Although a paperweight is heavy and can easily break things, it can also hold things together. A flower can lean on the paperweight and the paperweight will continuously support it without a fault."  
"I'm toxic Aurora. Erik even said so himself, and hell, he has barely met me!"  
"If you're toxic, then why do you think some flowers have thorns?"

Charles stays quiet, but slowly turns to face the judging expression of his love interest.

"Some flowers have thorns to protect it from other predators, but once they get picked by a special person, the thorns can be cut off. It doesn't hurt either of them anymore."

Charles studied her closely. She was smiling softly at the metaphor that she just made up. Charles chewed on the inside of his bottom lip and narrowed his gaze at her, once again at a loss for words.

". . . And sometimes, we become immune to the toxins that try to harm us." He softly continued.

She looked at him, the smile on her lips gone. Charles moved closer to her now, nearly closing the small gap that was set between them.

Questioningly, he moves his lips closer to hers. She stayed where she was, just waiting for him to come to her. A shiver runs down his spine as their lips were now centimeters away from each other. Finally, they met.

Charles felt Aurora soft pink lips against his, kindly returning the motion. He felt a little firework pop in the background as more shudders ran up his spine. He found his arms snaking around her waist and her hands entangling themselves into his short hair.

Aurora pulled away to gasp for some air. Their foreheads stay touching. She looked at him, hoping and waiting that he will say something. He stared right back at her and gulped, trying to process the new feeling in his chest.

"You don't know how long I've waited to do that," Charles muttered.  
"I've gone full circle, Charles Xavier," Aurora pressed one quick, chaste kiss to his lips.  
"I really am in love with you. . ."

He grabbed her hand and interlaced his fingers with hers. He pulled her into his chest protectively and wrapped his free arm around her. She leaned into him and hugged him back. Enjoying the cozy warmth between them, he unconsciously kissed her hair.

"I'm in love with you too,"

[ Aurora ]

It has been about three hours since Charles came into her room saying that they needed to talk. They were now lying on her bed. She was happily wrapped in his arms, enjoying the soft warmth that came from his chest. Charles' hand was on top of hers as his fingers traced shapeless forms onto her hand.

They stayed silent, taking in the new feelings of love. Aurora sighed sadly, realizing the horrible timing of their confessions. They were just on the wage of a mutant war and now they are faced with the fact that their love might get in the way of their actual plans.

Aurora shifted around and propped herself on her elbows. She turns her head to look at Charles with a solemn expression. He meets her brown orbs with a questioning gaze.

"How are we supposed to manage this if we're supposed to be working with the CIA?"

Charles looks like he is in deep thought for a moment before he grabs her hand gently.  
"We can always find a way, Aurora." He smiles at her gently.  
Charles brings her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles. She smiles lovingly at him, lying back down. They stare at each other's eyes, getting lost.

Unexpectedly, the door to her room swung wide open. A loud gasp is emitted from whoever opened the door. Charles looks up to see who barged in. Hank stood there with a blush creeping up his cheeks. He turns away and apologizes awkwardly, sidestepping his way out the door.

"Hank, it's alright, we're not doing anything…touchy feely," Charles said, chuckling.

Hank walked back in, still beet red in the face. Aurora turns around in her bed to face him. She giggles quietly at his embarrassment then sits up, lotus style. Charles is propped up on his elbows, watching Hank.

"I apologize. I shouldn't have had, uhm, barged in without, uh, knocking. I-I needed to come and tell you something important," Hank stuttered nervously. "I was just walking around and I just remembered that I wanted to show you both Cerebro."

"Cerebro?" Aurora asked curiously.

"He's one of my inventions. It's a machine that amplifies brain waves and since you and Charles are telepaths, you can possibly use it to find other mutants."

Charles swings his legs over the edge of the bed and stands up, suddenly interested in the conversation. He tilts his head slightly to the side and grins at Hank. Aurora scoots towards the edge of the bed. Charles holds a hand out to her and pulls her up to stand next to him.

"Where is this 'Cerebro' invention of yours, Hank?" Charles asks.

Hank smiles and walks out the door, looking over his shoulder to make sure they're still following. The pair of telepaths are escorted to the backyard lawn of the facility. They make their way into the dome shaped room/machine and are met with a waiting Raven and Erik.

Hank walks towards a helmet looking device that's connected to many wires and tubes. Charles steps up first and Hank hands him the expedient. Charles puts it on and stands in the center of the room.

"Are you sure we can just shave your head?" Hank asks.  
"Don't touch my hair."

Aurora laughs discreetly from the corner of the room. Raven cocks her head in her direction and smiles.  
"Who knows Charles, you might go bald in the near future," Raven says jokingly to Charles.

He sends a weak glare at her as Hank switches on buttons, turning on Cerebro.  
"Get ready Charles!"

The minute the machine is turned on, Charles' eyes widen. He lets out a 'WOOHOO!' as he begins to enjoy the amplifying of his brain. In the far corner of the room, a typewriter taps coordinates and locations onto a long sheet of paper.

"I hope you're ready for more traveling, Erik! We've got mutants to find!"


	9. Not Very Gentlemenly

[_Angel Salvador_]

"Wait, we're going to where now?" Aurora asked utterly confused.  
"A gentlemen's club, Hasenhirn," Erik says to her, also calling her an idiot.  
"Which is another word for…?"  
"A strip club. We're about to walk into a strip club, Aurora." Charles explained.

Aurora's eyes widened and her cheeks were lightly dusted in pink. Erik laughed at her reaction and continued to walk ahead of her and Charles. Aurora looks up at Charles, slightly concerned at where they were heading.

"Charles, I don't want to walk into a club full of stripping women!" Aurora frantically said.  
"Not a problem," Charles replied, starting to pull out his wallet. "Do you want to go shopping? There are a few stores nearby. I can give you some money to spend,"

Aurora gave him an 'are you kidding me' expression and pushed his wallet back into his back pocket. She put a hand on his forearm and stopped him on the sidewalk. She furrows her eyebrows and narrows her gaze at him.

"Charles, that's not what I meant! I meant that I don't want either of us to go inside. I mean, half-naked women dancing sexily… it worries me,"

Erik stopped walking when he realized that the pair had stopped as well. Charles smirked and tilted his head to one side. He crosses his arms, looking down at his shorter companion.

"Love, aren't you being a little protective? I mean, don't you trust me?"

Aurora goes red as she licks her teeth to try and buy some time to figure out what to say. She begins to tap her foot, suddenly feeling both men's attention on her. Erik, in the background, snickers and raises his eyebrows, enjoying the scene unfolding in front of him.

"_You're jealous aren't you?_" Charles says in her head.  
"I am not jealous!" she says aloud. "_I'm just concerned for the relationship that we both have!_"

She crosses her arms and puffs up her chest, trying to protect her pride. She looks the other way and pouts her lip, looking much like a five-year-old. Charles laughs at her and wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

"Half or fully naked women do not have much to compete with when it comes to my affection towards you, darling. You have much more to offer when it comes to personality and beauty."

Aurora tries her best not to smile at his words, but fails to comply. A Cheshire grin erupts onto her features as her cheeks stain with a dusty pink. She gives Charles a quick peck on the lips then stares at him in adoration for a minute.

"You two are disgusting creatures. Hurry up already! We have things to do!" Erik shouted from several feet away from them. He huffs then begins to walk towards the club without them.

The pair laughs it off then rush to catch up with Erik.

When they reached the entrance to the club, Erik puts an arm in front of Aurora, stopping her from walking in. He narrows his gaze and tilts his head.

"What will we say if people begin to ask why you're in a strip club for men?"  
"We can always say that she's a lesbian," Charles suggests.

Aurora nods in agreement and shrugs.  
"I'm open to that possibility. There's nothing wrong with it either,"

The trio all walk into the club. From the second they took a step in, they were automatically bombarded with drinks and a stage with several dancing women. Aurora hid behind the two men and followed them around closely.

"Aurora, see if you can find anyone who knows something about mutants or mutations," Charles commanded. She nods quickly and begins to roam every single mind that was present in the club.

She was interrupted when a waitress in a babydoll walked up to them and offered to pick up their empty glasses. She grinned flirtatiously at Charles as he returned a blameless smile. As the waitress examines both men, she notices a meek Aurora standing behind them.

"Oh…what brings a lady like you to the strip club?" she asks her with a curious look.  
"We brought her along because she likes it a bit… kinky," Erik replied.

Aurora held back her urge to smack him. Forcedly, she puts a smirk on her face. Charles takes a deep breath in before explaining it further.

"Our friend here isn't exactly interested in, erm, men…" he says awkwardly.  
The waitress smiles and nods understandingly. She licks her lips and gives Aurora a wink before walking away with their empty drink glasses in hand.

Aurora's eyes widened as she stands there slightly shocked. She shrugs off the current incident and quickly goes back to searching. A light bulb flickers on in her head as she seems to have found the mutant.

"Charles, her name is Angel Salvador," She points towards a young woman in a black fringe bikin. "She's coming this way. Erik you have cash right?"

Angel struts towards them as Erik holds out a $100 bill. She grins at him and takes the bill.

"For this, daddio, you get a private dance." Angel says sweetly.

Erik looks at Charles and grins at him. He then looks over his shoulder and raises an eyebrow at Aurora. The trio gets up and follows Angel to a private room. Aurora stays seated until Erik turns around and gently grabs her wrist to drag her behind him.

Her eyes go wide as she realizes that she is being taken to the room along with them.

"What?! Erik, I'm not going in there with you!" She debates with a frantic look on her face.  
"We can't just leave you out here."

Once they reached the room, they take their seats on the long couch bed that was on the far side. Aurora's face is a bright red as she tries to figure out how to act around a stripping woman.

Angel walks in her costume and smiles at the three of them. She looks in Aurora's direction and gives them a questioning look.

"She's a lesbian." Erik plainly stated smiling at her and nudging Aurora in the ribs, snickering.  
Aurora nods quickly as she forces another awkward smile on her face.

"First time in the strip, girly?" Angel asks her. Aurora nods.  
"You know its triple for all three of you right?"

"No, that won't be necessary," Charles says, shifting around in his seat.  
"We were thinking more like… we show you ours, and then you show us yours." Erik intercepts.

Angel tilts her head and stands with a hand on her hip.  
"Baby, that is not how it works around here."

Erik snaps his fingers and raises the champagne bucket with his powers. He brings the bucket in front of Aurora, who was sitting in the middle of both men. Charles holds out his glass and has champagne poured into it by Erik.

Angel scoffs, clearly amazed by what Erik was able to do. Aurora smirks as she crosses her stretched out legs and clenches her fists. Connecting to Angel's mind, she talks to her in her mind softly.  
"_Blink twice for me, dear,"_

Angel does as she says and begins to laugh as she sees Erik and Charles dressed in drag. She put Erik in a blue dress and red wig and Charles in a blonde wig and green dress, makeup included.  
"I know, I know. I'm good aren't I?" Aurora chuckles. Both Charles and Erik look at each other, clearly confused.

"How did you do that?" Angel asks.  
"We're just like you." Aurora replies.

Angel nods as she says, "My turn," She unclasps her bra and spreads her arms out.

Aurora's eyes widen as she rushes to shield her eyes, thinking that she was about to remove the garment completely.

The tattoos she had on her upper arms detached themselves from her skin and transformed into shiny, silvery wings. She began to float and the trio looked at her in awe.

They smiled at each other, knowing what was yet to come.

[_Sean Cassidy_]

The men stood in the center of the aquarium tank room, watching the young Sean Cassidy emitting high-pitched sound waves through the tank glass.

"I sound worse than that when I try to sing…" Aurora quietly mutters earning a smirk from Erik. Charles looks at the both of them, smiling at the growing relationship they had. He gives Aurora a quick peck before turning his attention back onto the situation.

Charles clears his throat, getting the attention of Sean.  
Sean turns around, surprised at the sudden noise. He looks at both of them questioningly then apprehensively asks, "Are you here to experiment on me…?"

Charles chuckles and strolls towards the boy. Erik shoves his hands into his pockets, bemused at the way the boy seemed so quick to jump to conclusions.

"Charles doesn't have the courage to cut open a fellow mutant,"

Charles shakes his head, disregarding Erik's comment. He extends an arm to lightly grasp the anxious looking boy's shoulder.  
"What would you say if I offered you a chance to be with others like you?"

[_Alex Summers_]

Aurora's heels clank against the grimy white tile of the juvenile detention facility. She speeds after the guard, taking long strides in order to keep up with him. After a flight of stairs, they made it into a hallway that read "Solitary Confinement".

"In all my years, I have never seen anyone who actually likes solitary confinement…" the guard stated, stopping in front of one steel door. "I guess this guy just likes to be alone…"

The guard pulls the cell door open and in the shadow, a teenaged boy stood, staring at the ground. Aurora stands outside the cell and smiles brightly at the somewhat frightened boy. She puts her hands into her jacket pockets, twirling around on her heel to face him completely.

"Hello, Alex," she said softly. "Care to come out and take a quick stroll with me?"

Alex looks up from the corner and stares at her, trying to convince himself to trust her. He stays silent, but he cautiously walks out of the cell and in front of the older woman. He looks up at her carefully, with his hands behind his back, trying to refrain from harming her on accident. She smiles at him and gestures towards the exit of the prison.

"You're not one of those old grannies who're either social workers or government agents are you?" He asks quietly.  
Aurora scoffs. "How old do you think I am kiddo?" she asks looking at him entertained.  
"Like… 25 or something."

Aurora laughs sweetly and smirks at the mutant teen.  
"I'm 93 to be exact. I have a regenerative mutation which means I don't age nor do I die."

Alex looks at her with furrowed eyebrows, slightly confused at what she just said. Aurora raises an eyebrow at him, the corners of her lips quirking up. She enters his mind and says, "_And I'm a telepath. I'm just like you. You were never alone, Alex._"

She leaves his head and then says aloud, "There are other mutants out there, dozens who are just like you and I. We would all love to have you join us defeat evil."

Alex frowns at her, taking in what she just said.  
"You really want me to help you defeat evil? You've chosen the wrong guy for that," he laughs bitterly. "I _am_ evil, granny. This mutation thing that I have can easily kill people and I don't want to end up doing that again."

Aurora cocks her eyebrow and dismisses the nickname she was given by the teen. Taking a breath, she tilts her head to the side and looks directly into his eyes. Although she didn't notice, her hair was switching colors rapidly.

Alex stared at her, shocked at what she was just doing.  
"You're scared of your ability, aren't you?" She says to him in a near whisper. "I know what that's like, trust me, but if you go with me; you can learn how to control it. Soon enough, you'll master your power and know how to use it for good. There's no reason to be afraid…"

Alex watches her for a few more moments before looking off to the side and nodding.

[ … ]

After gathering all of the mutant recruits, they were back at the base, awaiting the instruction of Charles and the approval for transport from the government. Aurora stood next to Charles, holding the arm that draped around her shoulders. She leaned against him and listened carefully as Charles and Erik conversed.

"They're just kids…" he says quietly, sneaking a glance at the recruits.  
"No, they were kids. Shaw has an army. We need ours." Erik replied gruffly.  
"Erik's right, Charles… No matter how young they may seem, we have a much important matters that need to be taken care of. They'll learn how to cope," Aurora added.

They turned around, Charles' arm still wrapped around her. Angel raised an eyebrow, confused at the way they were acting.

"I thought you said you were a lesbian, girly?" she asked.  
"You prefer girls, granny?" Alex added.

Aurora's blushed deeply as she licks her lips nervously.  
"She's really not. We just needed something to say in case someone asked back at the club," Charles stated. "She's actually my girlfriend…"

Charles smiles down at her and kisses her temple sweetly. Erik chokes in the background as Angel smiles and nods in understanding. Charles sighs and nods, getting back into focus.  
"If we're going to defeat Shaw, we need to train."  
"We can't train here," Hank says. "I mean, we have no room. Where will we go?"

Charles grins, knowing the perfect place to go. Aurora feels his excitement through her connection with him and grins.

"We're going to the only place where we can all be at home, the Xavier Mansion,"


	10. Cue Training Montague

The burly group of recruits (and Erik) stared in astonishment. As expected, they were mesmerized by the sheer size of the mansion. Walking up behind them, Aurora chuckles and remembers when she first arrived here.

"It's radical, isn't it? I had the same reaction too."

Charles grins at their reactions. Holding his arms out, he yells, "Welcome home!" Raven starts to walk ahead of them, Erik following behind her. The recruits waited on the command of Charles, feeling that he was to be trusted more than Erik.

"Well, my family's mansion will be your home. Here Raven, Aurora, Erik, and I will train you to use your gifts to the fullest potential. You'll learn how to control it, use it, and most importantly understand it. Soon enough, you can be teachers like us. You're all welcome to stay here as long as you'd like. Our home will be your home."

The group all had beautiful grins of excitement etched onto their faces. It was a good sign to see them happy about the decisions they made.

Aurora walks up to Charles, grasping onto his arm as he walked into the home. In return, he lays a gentle kiss onto her temple.

"Come on! Just wait until you see the inside!" Aurora says eagerly.

[ The Next Day ]

After everyone had their share of homemade breakfast (courtesy of Aurora), they all set out to start their training. Charles wanted to start training the recruits on his own, so the other older mutants decided to do things with their free time. Erik had decided that he'd much rather stay with Charles, so Raven and Aurora were left to do as they please.

The two women strolled along the pathway in the Xavier garden. They continued to chat, joke, and talk about their interests in men. They both laughed and giggled, entertaining themselves with each other's company.

After half an hour of walking and talking, they decided that they should go inside for a quick drink and break.

When they enter through the back door, they find Charles sitting on the couch with Hank tending to a slight burn wound located on his arm. The other recruits and Erik sat around him, watching attentively.

"What happened here?" Raven asked, concerned.  
"Oh nothing, just a little mishap with Alex. Nothing to be overwhelmed with." Charles replied.

Alex sat at the furthest end of the couch he shared with Sean and Angel. He was crossing his arms and looking like he was mad at the world for ever existing.

"Don't look so angry with yourself, Alex! You're just starting out."

Charles grins at him while Alex still continued to sulk. He looks up at Aurora and Raven, grinning goofily at them.

"I was hoping that I could train them, but apparently not. Would you mind taking command of the class today, loves?"

Raven and Aurora nodded, more than happy to lend him a hand while he took a break.  
Raven gestured for them to follow her, and soon enough everyone was gathered around in the backyard porch of the mansion.

Having all of the young one's attention on her, Raven smiled and began to speak loudly.

"Your mutations are gifts and should never be seen as curses. You're all more than capable of mastering this, so don't give in so easily when it gets harder and harder to stay grounded."

Aurora continues after Raven finishes speaking.  
"With that being said, who wants to go first?"

All of the recruits scoot back quickly, leaving Sean standing there looking confused. He shakes his head, but Aurora and Raven pursue him.

"C'mon, we can't possibly be that bad at teaching!"

[ CUE MONTOGUE MUSIC NOW ]

Sean stood at the edge of the mansion roof, looking down at the hard ground below him. He was dressed in a jumpsuit with fabric wings attached at the sides. Aurora and Raven stood at his sides, peering down over the ledge too.

Hank stood on the ground, holding out a large parachute blanket with the rest of the team. Aurora and Raven grinned at Sean who was obviously afraid that his painful doom was nearing.

"Are you sure this is safe, Hank?" Sean asked nervously.  
"Eh… Yes. I suppose it is. If you produce a high enough frequency to bounce off the ground, you could catch some air and fly."

"Aurora, Raven, if I die, be sure to play Kashmir by Led Zepplin at my funeral."

Both women pat his shoulder and promise to do as he said if it were to ever happen. After a few round of nervous laughter, Aurora began to count.

"On three, okay? One… Two… Three!"

Sean jumped off the ledge, but didn't scream as high as they were hoping. His screaming came out mangled and had more of a 'HELP ME I'M GOING TO DIE' vibe.

Luckily for Sean, Hank and the others caught him before he could touch the ground.  
"How does a second try sound right about now?" calls out Raven.

[ … ]

"Okay, okay! I can't keep up," Aurora says stopping at the side of the track pathway. "Go on without me Hank! Good gracious, you're fast."

Hank stops besides her, looking like he wasn't even fazed with exhaustion. Erik and Charles walk up to them, both laughing at how tired Aurora looked.

"What did you do to my girlfriend, Hank?" Charles snickered.  
"I expected more endurance, Aurora." Erik mused.

Aurora looks up at them, sweaty and panting. Through her exhaustion, she sends them a fiery glare. She wipes off the sweat on her forehead and puts her hands on her hips.

"I just dragged hank through 15 miles and he comes back looking like this!" She exclaims pointing at him. "He's all yours if you want. I don't think I'll make it through another lap."

Hank stood there with a proud grin on his face. With Aurora's encouragement, he was able to run without his shoes or socks on, making him faster.

Charles laughs at her, coming towards her and giving her stick cheek a kiss. He then pats Hank on the back, cheering him on. Erik came up to them, looking just as menacing as usual.

"Race you to the mansion garden." Hank said.  
"Oh, you're on!"

Charles sprinted ahead of him, Hank only a few feet away. Erik, on the other hand, stayed where he was. "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on him."

[ … ]

"Granny, I already hit Charles. I don't want to end up hitting you." Alex says.  
"Then don't." Aurora replies, dragging the manikin that Charles had previously used.  
"Alex, help please?" she asks, clearly still weary from the jog she took.

After Alex places the manikin in the proper place, he steps back and stares at her.  
"Are you sure about this, Aurora?"

Hearing him calling saying her name for the first time ever, she smiles widely at him.  
"I'm as sure as I am that my name is not Granny."

Alex nods and begins to stand his ground. He pulls his arms up from his sides and begins to swing around, forming wide bright red rings. His energy focuses and the room gets much warmer than usual.

BULLSEYE!

Alex hits the target and avoids splitting Aurora in half. Swatting away the smoke, Aurora grins, happy that she didn't die tonight. When she turns to look at Alex, she sees him fist pumping the air, proud of himself as well.

[That evening…]

All of the recruits were settled in the living room, happily buzzing with excitement. Aurora and Raven started training with the mutants and had successfully not killed anyone.

Back in the kitchen, Aurora walks towards Charles, sighing deeply. She wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He returns the hug back with the one arm he didn't injure. He chuckles into her ear, giving her a kiss on her temple.

"Good work, Rora."  
"Nice burn, Charles."

He pulls away from her, giving her a funny look.  
"You're spending too much time with Erik."  
"How so?"  
"You're getting just as sarcastic as he is."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys! It's Sasha. I am not very sure how to talk to all of at one time, but I guess this will have to do.  
As of late, I've hit a wall in my writing. Writer's block is a big jerk, no?

Because of the writer's block, I am going to be taking in suggestions for what you want to see happen in this story.  
Tell me what you think should happen down in the review section. Also, give me ideas for Aurora's superheo name! I'm open to everything!

School is also starting up soon, so I won't be able to update as often as I'd like to. Don't worry though, I am not going ot put this story on a hiatus. This will continue to be updated every chance I get. For now, I leave this chapter for you to enjoy.

Be sure to check my profile for more updates and information on my stories.

_I dedicate this whole entire work to my avid reviewer:_  
_HelloILikeIt_  
_Thank you so much for eveything you've done for me, and guess what? I love long reviews. :)_


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